July 16-25, 2026 - AirVenture 2026
RVs
Monday after the airshow is always the RV Social, hosted by Gallagher Insurance.  The Spotted Cow beer flew freely.  It's a great way to start off the week; a great tradition.  I'm a long-time Gallagher Insurance customer and never made a claim, so I figure I deserve a few Spotted Cow!  Well, more than a few.
   
Essex Skypark bubbas, plus my long-time fellow RV pilot and builder friend Mike R. "Chef" from Gaithersburg,  enjoying the Spotted Cow.
   
A lot of RV drivers and builders under this tent!
   
 
   
I recognized a few RV celebrities but other than that I didn't know anybody here.  Of course, it's very easy to strike up a conversation with anyone here.
   

Walking through the homebuilt camping area, I instantly recognized this RV-8.  It's "Skyrunner", flown by Hermann Schiele from Germany.

How did Skyrunner get to Oshkosh you ask?   Hermann flew it here.  In fact, he's made an amazing four round trips from Germany to Oshkosh, starting in 2019, plus 2023, 2025 and of course this year.  And not just Oshkosh.  Included in those trips he flew all over the U.S. including Alaska.  Herman has done his homework and has hit all of the major U.S. aerial attractions:  Niagara Falls, Hudson River corridor, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, Denali, southeast Utah, Johnson Creek Idaho, San Francisco Bay, Kitty Hawk North Carolina, Key West, Bahamas, just to name a few.  He's an aviator who obviously loves flying the long cross-countries and seeing the world from the air, like I do, only he's far surpassed what I'll ever do. 

As if that's not enough, he's produced masterful videos of his trips, which are available on YouTube:  Link.  Nowhere else will you see loops and rolls over icebergs!   If Herman's videos don't motivate you to pound rivets and finish your RV project I don't know what will!

Hermann himself is now retired, giving him time for six week trips flying around the USA, but he was a pilot for Lufthansa Airlines, flying Boeing 747s all over the world.

He's also a builder, first building a RV-7, then the RV-8 you see below, and I believe is building another RV-7.

For flights such as this, one has to be skilled in planning and with meticulous attention to detail.  In his own words:  “The largest stretch over water was from Scotland to Iceland; it was 660 miles,” he said. “I wore a survival suit, with bags next to me with important items such as an emergency transmitter, a cold-water head cover, two life rafts, and a helmet to keep my head from banging against the frame. I also put foam in the wings so that the airplane would be buoyant and not sink.” Other than the addition of a small 10-gallon auxiliary tank in the aft fuselage, Hermann didn’t modify the airplane or carry additional fuel beyond its normal capacity.

Late in the week, I was relaxing by my plane and Herman walked by so I got a chance to talk with him.  Nice guy!
   
Paul Dye's newly built and sleek F1 Rocket was on hand.
   
This RV-8 named the "Silver Bullet" was built in the Dominican Republic and flew to AirVenture from the Santo Domingo, DR!   Hope it didn't arrive Friday or Sunday afternoon!
   
Redline Two, an Essex Skypark-based RV-8, an airshow veteran, sits proudly in the Aerobatic showplane area.
   
I just took a few pictures of RVs that caught my fancy.
   
I liked the paintjob on this RV.
   
And this one with it's hexagonal decorated vertical stab and rudder.
   
It's rare to see a RV painted in German Luftwaffe garb.
   
Best nickname award goes to the Asian Cajun!
   
The design has something to do with large crawfish boils.
   
A very unusual stealth black paintjob.
   
An all-red RV-6 taxiis by on its way to homebuilt camping.
   
An unpainted RV.
   
Unusual tail art.
   
Go 82nd Airborne!
   
I saw the Full Throttle Formation Team guys at Sun 'N Fun earlier this year and here they are at AirVenture.
   
Like the neo-light encircled palm tree campsite decoration!
   
I always like the polished aluminum and invasion strip look.
   
This nicely painted RV-4 with an O-350 engine has flown over 30 years!
   
Homebuilt parking filled with RVs.
   
More homebuilt parking.
   
And yet there's more!
   
Another unpainted RV.  Perhaps they are flying it around a bit before having it painted.
   
Same (unpainted) plane from another angle.
   
Perhaps a Carolina Panthers fan?
   
Another formation team:  the Rocky Mountain Renegades.
   
Gotta like the U.S. Naval Aviation paint schemes.
   
Later in the week, homebuilt parking still filled with RVs.
   
This RV has the black and polished aluminum similar to mine.
   
Classy maroon and checkered paint job on this RV-8.
   
 
   
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